If you are a subscriber to the Digital Satellite Television (DStv), be ready to pay more.

Multichoice Nigeria, owners of satellite television service, has again raised their access tariff.

The company has introduced new subscription charges, citing increases in the company’s operational and ancillary costs which include, content acquisition and development, technical infrastructure, satellite lease, facilities and maintenance.

This is about the third time the company is asking its customers to pay more in less than two years, raising the question of whether they are not exploiting their near monopoly status to cream off Nigerians.

The new tariff regime is as follows: DStv Family, from N2, 800 to N3, 000; DStv Compact, from N4, 800 to N5, 000; DStv Compact Plus, from N7, 000 to N7, 500 and DStv Premium, from N10, 000 to N11, 000.

“We are mindful of the current economic challenges and the impact on the purchasing power given the myriad of competing needs. As a family-oriented company, we have proposed this deal aimed at creating a WIN-WIN situation that ensures that this increase has no negative impact on our subscribers who take up our offer. Our esteemed subscribers will have an opportunity to pay less than they were previously paying,” the Managing Director of MultiChoice Nigeria, John Ugbe, said,

“For subscribers who take advantage of the special offer,” he said, “ the 10 per cent discount translates to N1,350 from N1,500 (N150 less than the new rate) for DStv Access; N2,700 from N3, 000 (N300 less than the new rate) for DStv Family; N4, 500 from N5, 000 (N500 less than the new rate) for DStv Compact; N6,750 from N7, 500 (N750 less than new rate) for DStv Compact Plus; and N9, 900 from N11, 000 (N1,100 less than the new rate) for the DStv Premium.”

A prominent industry analyst told AEB that such tariff jack up has become an annual tradition for the organization.

A recent study of the company’s tariff regime across Africa shows that Nigeria has more than 600,000 subscribers out of about two million total, pays the highest tariff. Incidentally, the company is enjoying high growth rate in Nigeria where signing on to its service has become a craze.

There are other pay Tvs in Nigeria but none of them has been able to achieve the efficiency level to compete effectively with the Multichoice’s DStv.